Fire door



Oct. 27, 1931.l H. H. LANNING FIRE DOOR Fled July 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheetl Oct. 27, 1931. H. H. LANNlNG 1,829,008

FIRE DOOR Filed July 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 27, 1931` fa UNITED 'STATES rHOWARD'H. LANNING, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS Fran Doon.

Application med my '3,

My invention is especially adapted to fire doors for locomotives'andrelates more'pa-rticularly to there door rings of vlocomotives; althoughadaptation of the invention to other types of boiler fire doors isapparent. The invention has for its object the provision of aconstruction whereby air may be admitted to the irebox withoutthenecessity of opening the fire door and therefore without the dangerencountered with constructions as at present employed. f

A further objectof the invention is to pro# v ',bered fire door ring 14disposed about ythe vide regulable means whereby the air may be admittedin the desiredV and correct amounts to aid combustion-and consequentlyreduce the smoke emitted from the stack.l

Another object ofJmy invention is to provide air admittingmean'sarranged so that in the event of a fire box or flue explosion, the forceof Such explosionwilll be conveyedv to and discharged at a point removedfrom the operating positionsV of the enginemen.

' The objects and advantages of my invention will be readilycomprehended :from the detailed description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- VFigure 1 is an elevation'of the rear of a `coalburning type of locomotive fire box, portions being broken away,illustrating theV applicationv of my invention. n

Figure 2`is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on'the line2-2of :Figure 1, with the fire door omitted.

f Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken substantiallyV on the line 3 3ofFigure 2 looking in the direction'of the arrows.

' Figure 4 is a vertical sectional elevation of the lower end ofthemechanism as disclosed in Figure 2, illustrating lthe air means in openposition. y

In the drawlngs, I have illustrated my invention applied to a coalburning locomotive and for purposes of'exemplification havey shown theinventionk applied to what is known as? the Franklin butter-fly type ofl admitting 1929. serial No. 375,309.` l

pneumatic fire door; namely a lire door which is adapted to be swungthrough a vertically disposed arc and which is usually operated kbypneumatic meansy attached to the boiler backhead, but ywhich means isomitted as it forms no part Vof my invention.

The' rear water'leg of the boiler is shown at 10 in Figure 2 formed bythe inner sheet 11 and outer sheet l2 which are provided with the usualfire door flanges as at 13 about the Vfire box opening.

My invention involves ahollow or chamfre door opening in the boiler`head and which ring involves the ydownwardly extend? ing portion 15which also encircles the sides ofthe fire door ring proper and providesan air conduit orconveying channel 16 which VAextends preferably beneaththe tiring deck or floor 17 of the cab of the locomotive.

The kring is provided, in this particular instance with the .,Franklinbutter-fly type of pneumatic door which is located at 18 and arranged tonrotate on the studs 19 supported by the bosses 20, while the bottom ofthe fire doorpis held in position against the opening kin the ring by`the lugs `21, 21 which are formed integral with the fire door ring.

The fire door ringas is apparent, conforms with the-contour or shape ofthe backhead of the fire box and is chambered throughout; with the backhead, in the rspecific exemplification, constituting the rear wall ofthe,y air chamber in the ring.l The air chamber extends about andcommunicates with the re door opening in the ring, except for thetransverse apertured boss portions 22'and 23 which receive the lstuds 24and 25 whereby the ring l 14 is securely fastened to the boiler backhead 12. 1 The ring is of proper thicknessso' as to provide a suitableair chamber or conduit and has its perimeter 26 formed to extend sub`stantially flush with the boiler back head 12.

The ring, on its perimeter and4 at opposite isides,'is also providedwith flanges or lobes as at 27 to receive the studs 24 for firmlysecuring the fire door ring in place.

The ring 14 is provided with a shovel shield 28 formed, preferably,integral therewith and made arcuate or dished to conform with the lowerpart of the fire door opening as shown. The shield 28 extends into thelire door opening and preferably in slight spaced relation with the dooropening flange 13 of the boiler back head, as shown in Figure 2.

The fire door ring 14, as previously described, is formed so that air isdrawn into the re door opening past the door opening flange i3, at allpoints, a small amount of air being also allowed to pass beneath theshield 28 through the-opening or space indicated at 29 in Figure 2. y

By arranging the shovel shield as described and by permitting air topass around ,the bottom face of the shield, the fire box door opening:lian-ge I3 uand the shovel :shield 28 are protected and overheating Vofsaid parts is prevented.

The bot-tom :of the air `chamber :or conduit 16 is provided with a`damper 30 which extends throughout the bottom of the air `conveyingportionfof the ring :14 and :constitutes a closure for the' airadmitting-lend of the conduit or air -:chamber formed within the yshellconstituting the :ii-re idoor :ring 14.

The damper 30, which constitutes the bottom of the chamberformed :by.the fire `ring shell, is sho-wn 'provided with upstanding aperturedvlugs zor-ears X31.

r:Ihese lug-s orffearsaredisposed between the lugsorears.32;arrangedin1pairs atthelbottom of the fire door ring -shell:andwhich are likewise apertured to receive the hinge :pins '33, see Figurel., which latter may be secured in place in any suitable manner,as 'for:example :by .cotters asat T34. lugs or years 31 on the damper 30 are`formed =to permit the damper 30 to swing downwardly into open position,as shown in Figure 4. Y Y

One end-ofthe-d'amper :301is lprovided with an arm Aore-x-tension .35.shown terminating in an upwardly disposed bifurcated portion 36;

the bifurcations ibeingfapertured to receive a `suitable :pin 37 lforpivotally connecting a lever 38 thereto. .Lever-38 yispi-ovided with alongitudinally `disposed slot .39 which receives a stud 40 threadedainto a flug l1 formed lintegral or secured fto lthe iredoor ring orshell 414; ythe stud bein-gheldagainst'rotation `in any suitablemanneras for example ibyza nut 42..

The outer end Lof the stud 40 Eis provided with asma-ll leverror vclampmember 43 which i is adapted toclamp lthe lever38 in the desiredposition against the side of -thezlu-gfil. From this construction it isapparentithat when the small lever or clamp vmember 43 4'is turned outof clamping relation with the damper Acon- "trol lever 38, the lattermay be moved downwardly or upwardly-as the case maybe, and therebyeither open vor close the damper30 to the desired position or extent ofopening. The position of the lever and therefore also of the damper aremaintained by again screwing clamp member 43 into clamping relation withthe side of damper operating lever 38.

As is evident from the construction shown and described, the desiredamount of air for aiding combustion in the lire box may be controlled bythe enginemen or operator by simply releasing clamp member 43 andtorcing lever 38 downwardly a distance suficiently to opendamper30 tothe desired extent. The air entering thechamber'or conduit 16 passesupwardly throughout the entire chambered fire door ring 14 and enters`the 'Xfire door .opening into the fire box at all points because theair chamber extends completely about all sides of the opening; whilesome of the .air will pass through the space or opening 29 beneath theshovel shield 28. The vair passing intermediate of the shovel shieldandthe tire door opening flange 13 protec'ts the flange `as well as the:shield against overheating.

With the fire door ring-extending-to appoint beneath the firing deck or@floor .17 of thelcab,

it is apparent that in theevent-of r-tire box or VHue `explosionsoccurring, `the force `of such explosions will pass out and downwardly.through .the conduit or ,air chamber `and through the openingmade bytheopen damper and thereforebe dischargedat a point below the ii'rng deck,.th-us protecting `vthe `enginecrew frominjuryaaid the dangers atpresent encountered. because the usual lire door ring tion and thusalso' to reduce the smoke` emitted at the stacker the locomotive; andwhen the damper has been adjusted or opened to the desired degree, itmay be set vat such yadjusted position .by Asimply screwing clamp memberor lever 43 into clamping relation with the `damper 4control lever 38.

As previously stated, I have, 'for purpose .of exemplification, .shownmy invention applied to a locomotive ireboX having what is known as theFranklin butter-flytype of pneumatic door, but it is apparent that the.invention is `applicable to other types with but slight variations incontour to Vsuit the type of fire box; and while Vthe exemplifica- .tionlis believed lto `betl'JeL-beSt adaptation of the invention, describedin terms employed vmerely as terms ofy description and not as terms oflimitation, modifications may be made without, however, departing fromthe spirit of my invention;

What I claim is:

1. A fire box providedwith a fire door opening, a hollow ring disposedabout said opening and secured to the fire box, said ring providing anair chamber about all sides of the opening and entirely open to saidopening, an air conducting extension secured to the lower side of saidring and leading to a f point beneath the iiring deck of the tire boxand open at the bottom, a pivotally mounted closure memberfor the openbottom of said extension; anda reciprocatingly mounted lever forcontrolling said closuremember.

2.111 combination with a locomotive fire box having a. fire dooropening, chambered means secured to the irebox aboutv said openy ingwith the chamber arranged in communication with all sides of theopening, said meanshavingan air admitting portion extending downwardlyalong the rear wall of the {ire-box to a point beneath the firing deckofthe locomotive and being open at the bottom, a damper hingedly securedto said portion for controlling said open end, and a reciprocatinglymounted lever operable from the firing deck whereby 'said damper `may becontrolled and locked in adjusted positions.

3. A fire box provided wit-h a ire door opening, a hollow open sidedmember secured with its open side to the rear wall of the fire box anddisposed entirely about said opening and communicatingwith all sides ofsaid opening, said member 4having an air admit-V cured to ysaid ring`for controlling said open bottom; an operating lever slidably securedto said portion .and operatively connected` with said damper, mea-ns forlocking said lever with the damper in adjusted positions,

and a shovel shield integral with said ring and disposed inwardly intothe fire-door opening in spaced relation with the fire-box wall toprovide an air space therebetween.

HOWARD H. LANNING.

ting portion extending downwardly beneath v the tiring deck of the iirebox and having an i air inlet at the bottom, a movable closure ringhaving side walls adapted to fit against the rear wall of the fire-boxto provide the air chamber about the opening, studs extending rearwardlyfromthe front wall of the l ring adapted to receive fasteningV bolts forsecuring the ring to the fire-box, a portion integral withthe bottom ofsaid ring and arranged to extend beneath the 'firing deck of the firebox to provide an air admitting channel communicating with the bottomand sides of the ring, said depending portion being open at its bottom,a damper *n pivotally se-

